Vehicle body panel structure



Sept. 13, 1932. F. CHADWlCK VEHICLE BODY PANEL STRUCTURE Filed June 15, 1951 INVENTOR. FFanc/IS L. Cfiaa wic/r ATTORNEYS.

bodies, which composltions,

Patented Sept. 13, 1932 I UNI ED STATES .FF cE .f

Banners L. cHAnwicK, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

V I V Assrsivon T0 woonALL rnnusrnfns :uvcom'omur n), on DETROIT, uucnrean,

is; CORPORATION OF MICHIGA VEHICLE BODY PANEL 'srnucru-nnf Application filed .Tune 15,

j 5 covering a'nd having .an improved pocket "structure on its finished. side.

It has become customary to utilize fiber board panels for the interiors of automobile board may" be of various but which invariably possesses an inherent flexibility which is useful in making the panel conform tures in the body lines-' Certain ofthese panels are provided with pockets the closure of which isnormally maintained by a permanent tension imposed thereon, which tension sets up a stress in the-panel that tends to distort it.

An objectof my invention is to eliminate this tendency toward unsightly warping and to provide a simplifiedpocket structure secured to the face of a panel without any tendency toward distortion of the panel. In carrying out the object of this invention I contemplate the provision of a somewhat flexible frame member delineating the outer contour, except for the mouth, of" the desired pocket. This frame is positioned upon the face of the panel and the corresponding edges of the fabric, of which the pocket is to be formed,-is looped thereover and'thedouble thickness of fabric stitched to the panel. A yieldable mouth'to the said pocket is provided by positioning a coil spri'ngunder slight tension along the open side'of the frame and 'encasingit within the correspond? "ing side of the pocketfabric.

Another object of myinvention is to offset the stress set up within the panel by reason of the aforesaid coil spring and thus eliminate the tendency created thereby to flex the panel out of its normal plane.

Aniimportant'feature of the invention resides in the particular arrangement whereby the above mentioned rigidifying efiect isse- I cured by' meanspositionedupon the uneX-' posed side of the panel without increasing 1 the maximum depth of the panel or, in other words, without utilizing rigidifying means which will project beyond the rear face o to various curva 1931. SeriaI 151 544,326.

the main body portion of the panel. This is important because, it is desirable that the major portion of the rear face of thepanel lie substantially within a givenplane in order to eliminate any bulges or distortions which might otherwise appear upon the visible surface of the panel when-the said panel is positioned against the backing which it is designed to cover.

Various other objects and meritorious .fea- I tures of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in con junction numerals refer to like parts throughoutthe several figures and wherein: i I

. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of apanel embodying my improved pocket assembly,

Fig.2 is a rear elevationjthereof, partly broken away, 7 r 1 a i i Fig. i 8 is' an enlarged elevation of the pocket construction per se, i

Fig. 4: is a section through the panel'structure perpendicularto'the open mouth of the pocket,

Fig. 5 is a section through the panel at right angles to Fig.5, 1 r G'illustrates a somewhatmodified assembly, and

Fig. 7 is a section through of Fig. 6.

The panel per se is illustrated by the. numeral 10 and is cut'toshape as depicted, the particular panel shown being adapted to fit the rear door of an automobile. These panels,

In conjunction with the imthat" a fiber board of a thermoplastic nature be utilized. Such sheets'may be embossed by the ordinary die stamping process and-will retain their shape fastener elements which in turn function to" secure the said panel toa supporting frame 7 arranged on the interior of the door. The panel illustrated has been subjected'to the embossingprocess heretofore mentioned and a portion of the'interior expanse of the panel with the, drawing, wherein like as hitherto stated, are usually cut from'sheets of'fiber'board which are inher-YJ; ently flexible. proved pocket structure hereaftento be de- Ifined' it is preferable causing the is offset from the marginal portion 14 of the panel, the'ofl'set portion being delineated by the compacted line of deformation 16. The

die stamping procedure compacts the panel material along this line of deformation 16,

- thereby increasing the rigidity of the panel as awhole.

Trim material 18, covering the interior of the panel, is foldedover the edges thereof as at and, after'bein'g stretchedtaut, preferably glued thereto. The said material is stitched to the panel as at 22 along the compacted line of deformation 16' produced by the embossing of the panel, and 'the'pocket structure is assembled as hereafter described. A frame 24, which may be of wire as illus trated, to which the outer edges of the pocket fabric are secured is positioned upon the inner face of the panel. This frame may be of any desired contour but for purposes of illustration we have disclosed it as conforming substantially in shape to the offset interior expanse of the panel. The extremities of the frame 24 are bent into eyelets 26 to-Which the opposite ends of a coil spring 28 are secured. I

Coil spring 28, whichis to maintain a normal closure-of themouth of the pocket, is

preferably under slight; tension and 'this would normally create a tendency to buckle the flexible panel material. This panel materialis composition fiber board held together by a suitable binder; It is common practice to employ a moisture resistant binder, such as an asphaltum compound, which is respon sive to heat and pressure to permanently assume 'a" shape to which it has been'deformed. To eliminate this tendency I provide, in conof the panelbending or purposes of illustration I have shown a strip 30 of relatively rigid material arranged on'the opposite face of the panel and held in place by brads .32. The ends of the pocket frame 24are positioned by means of any suitable type of fastener element such as the looped metal strip 34, the extremities panel and strip '30, are flattened out as illustrated. It is to be noted that the thickness of the strip 30 is substantiallyequal to the depth of the embossment onthe interior expanse of r In other words, the rigidifying the panel.

strip30. is positioned on the rear face of the embossed portion of the panel andits thickness is such that it does not project rearwardly beyond the rear face of the main body pertion of the panel. While the portion 14 of the panel has been referred to heretofore as the marginal portion, it will be understood that it constitutes the main body portion, partlcularly because of the fact that it is this portion which is positioned against a back which is designed to function as-a support for the panel. If the said supporting surface lies in V i aplane or constitutes ansmooth curved surface, any projection of the reinforcing strlp rearwardly beyond the rear face of'said portion would create a bulge in the interior expanse of the "panel. From theforegoing it W111 be apparent that frame 24 is first positioned by means of the element'84 and the pocket fabric 36 subsequently secured inlthe mannerillustrated. The side edges of the pocket fabric areirolled' over the frame 24 and folded back to form a double thickness'of cloth, which double thickness is secured by stitching, as indicated at 38, to the panel 10. Theedge which is to constitute themouth of the pocket is looped over thecoil spring 28 and stitched, as at 40.

normally held againstfthe face of the panel to close theopening of the pocket by means of the yieldable springj'28: The tension in the spring28 is taken vby-the relatively rigid strip 30extending' in superposed relationsto the said spring on the opposite faceof .the' panel and lying substantiallywithin. the plane of the main body portion thereof.- f

As a modified .structure, I haveil'lustrated a panel 42: which includes an embossed corrugation 44 extending across the. panel along the line extendingbetweenthe eyelets-26 of the frame member 24. This embossment substantially strengthens the panel at that portion and substantially offsets all the buckling .tendency resulting from-tension in spring28.: v a V Various modifications of the structure i1 lustrated will be apparent to those skilled in the art and for that reasontI intend to limit myself only'within-thescope of the appended "claims.

.VVhat'Icla-imisr a 1 1. A vehicle body panelcompris'ing an embossed sheet of yfiexiblehmaterial, a flexible frame of incomplete polygonal contour secured at its extremities to the upper face of the embossed ortion of said sheet and a st i of Wh10l'l, after being drawn through the p r p of relatively rigid material having a thickness substantially equalto the depth of the embossment secured to the opposite fao'e of .the sheet in superposedrelation to theincomplete side of said frame.

2. A vehicle body panel comprising anembossed sheet of flexible the embossed portion of said sheetsaid sheet '130 V including a rigidifying structure lying substantially within the plane of the unembossed portion of the same between the ends of said frame. 3. A vehicle body panel comprising an embossed sheet of flexible material, frame of incomplete polygonalcontour secured at its extremities to the outer face of the embossed portion of said sheet, a strip of relatively rigid material of a thicknesscorresponding substantially to the depth of the embossment secured to the opposite face of the sheet in superposed relation to the incomplete side of said frame, and a coil spring under ten- 35 sion secured to the extremities of said frame;

4. In combination with a relatively flexible embossed panel body, a frame adapted to delineate the outer contour of a pocket, and having one incomplete side, secured at its extremities to said panel upon the upper face of the embossed portion, means lying substantially within the plane of the unembossed portion thereof for reinforcing said panel along that portion extending between the extremities of said frame, a coil spring under tension secured at each extremity to the ends of said frame, and trim material folded over said frame and stitched along the line thereof to the panel, said trim material being looped around the coil spring and the edge thereof stitched to the body portion of the trim material.

5. An automobile interior trim panel hav ing a pocket comprising a panel of flexible thermoplastic composition fiber board material, a flexible wire frame of pocket contour terminating in ends spaced apart the dimensions of the mouth of the pocket and secured at said ends to one face of the panel, a sub-. 40 stantially inflexible strip arranged on one side of said panel connecting said ends and holding them in spaced apart relationship, a yielding member tensioned between said ends on the opposite side of the panel to be held toward said inflexible strip, and fabric material secured about said frame to the panel and secured along said yielding tension member thereto to be held toward the panel thereby. v In testimony whereof, I, FRANCIS L.

CHADW1oK,si n this specification.

F ANGIS L. CHADWICK. 

